PhD student in molecular ecology (M/F)

Descrizione

PhD student in molecular ecology (M/F) Sintesi in italiano (traduzione automatica): L'organizzazione cerca un dottorando in ecologia molecolare per il progetto Interreg MultiDiv, che si svolgerà dal 2026 al 2029. Il candidato sarà ospitato presso il Laboratoire Image Ville Environnement (LIVE) a Strasburgo e lavorerà con un team di ecologi su progetti riguardanti la biodiversità in ambienti acquatici e terrestri. Le principali mansioni includono la raccolta di dati genetici su insetti, pesci e piante, e lo sviluppo di database di riferimento per le comunità di invertebrati acquatici. È richiesta una laurea magistrale in biologia, ecologia o un campo correlato. Il dottorando avrà accesso a benefici sociali, possibilità di lavoro remoto e un massimo di 46 giorni di ferie all'anno. This PhD topic is part of the Interreg MultiDiv project (2026–2029), which aims to address the lack of biodiversity data in the cross-border Vosges du Nord and Pfälzerwald forest massifs by bringing together researchers, natural area managers, natural history museums, and French and German institutions. Together, they will collect genetic data on insects, fish, and plants found in forests and rivers, establish joint monitoring of these environments, and create a cross-border network — the Upper Rhine Biodiversity Cluster — to share knowledge. This work will lead to analytical tools, action plans, training for professionals, and exhibitions for the general public. Ultimately, decision-makers will have solid information to adjust their policies, field practitioners will be better equipped, and the public will be more aware of the importance of biodiversity conservation. The PhD student will be hosted at the Laboratoire Image Ville Environnement (LIVE, UMR 7362 Unistra CNRS ENGEES). They will work with a team of ecologists with varied expertise, ranging from population genetics and environmental DNA to the study of plant and animal communities and ecosystem restoration. More broadly, LIVE conducts multidisciplinary research on urban and human-impacted environments and hydrosystems, aiming to understand the impact of human activities on socio-ecosystems. The PhD student will enrolled at the doctoral school 413 from the University of Strasbourg. On-site catering facilities Social benefits Possibility of remote working in accordance with the established protocol Leave + RTT (additional days off): a maximum of 46 days per year to be taken during the contract period Title: Multi.Div – Complementarity of Standard and eDNA Approaches for Studying River Biodiversity (i) Scientific Context Detailed knowledge of biodiversity in aquatic environments and wetlands is essential for conservation, as these ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to climate change and suffer from a lack of standardized monitoring, particularly in transboundary areas. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding has profoundly transformed inventory methods over the past decade. Non-invasive, it complements traditional methods (such as kick-sampling for macroinvertebrates) by detecting rare or cryptic taxa, without replacing them: eDNA broadens the detection spectrum but remains less precise locally and in terms of abundance. The reliability of metabarcoding depends critically on solid reference databases, built from specimens accurately identified by experts. Such work is underway in the Grand-Est region on regional flora (ITS2 marker), but invertebrates such as caddisflies (Trichoptera) remain under-documented. In EPT taxa, larvae are often identifiable only to genus, unlike adults (imagos); larva-adult association through sequencing therefore makes it possible to extend the coverage of reference databases and reveal cryptic diversity. Finally, intraspecific genetic diversity, a key dimension for populations' capacity to adapt to climate change, remains little explored through eDNA, despite a few promising pioneering studies, particularly for aquatic invertebrates and plants. (ii) objectives: Conduct field inventories of aquatic invertebrates and aquatic/riparian plants, using standardized traditional sampling methods (kick-sampling, transects), across roughly thirty sites in different contexts, ranging from human-impacted areas to core reserve zones. Contribute to developing DNA barcode reference databases for aquatic invertebrate communities, prioritizing EPT taxa and, more specifically, caddisflies (Trichoptera) — a taxonomically complex group that is insufficiently represented in public databases (Weigand et al., 2019). Collection will prioritize adults (imagos), morphologically identified to species level and then sequenced for markers commonly used in metabarcoding, to ensure the reliability of deposited sequences. A larva–adult association component through seq Annuncio in inglese. Fonte: Euraxess (Commissione europea).